


rise to legacy

by AerisaHale (KarasuKyra)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Nyssa-centric, mentions of Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 00:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8600500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarasuKyra/pseuds/AerisaHale
Summary: Sara was gone and Nyssa was left to pick up the broken pieces of the League. Oliver Queen reaches out to her long after she thought she was done with him and Star City, but maybe there's another destiny waiting for her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up to the current episode.

Nyssa considers accepting the plea for help from Oliver Queen if only to have a connection to Sara once more. It's been at least a year since she has seen her beloved and she spent a large sum of that time in the dungeons of _Nanda Parbat_. She dedicated her time incarcerated on quietly networking among those still loyal to her, until she and a small group of loyalists were able to usurp Malcolm Merlin from his wrongful place. Nyssa claimed what has been her birthright since Talia passed, Head of the Demon.

The missive reaches her just a couple months after the ascending ceremony. She's still trying to get the League in order. There are still zealots of Al Saher within her ranks and she is slowly weeding them out, while also walking the markets of the villages around the base of the mountain looking for lost souls to give a home and bolster her forces. It's been slow but solid progress.

She greets the messenger on the flat area carved out of the mountain that serves as the courtyard. They move inside to the reception hall, where fire flickers from torches lining the wall, and a long table fills the room. The messenger that delivered the letter stands calmly before Ra's al Ghul. He looks plain, but something about him unsettles Nyssa, as does most anyone from Oliver Queen's past. He speaks strongly and quietly, a Russian accent sharpening his words, and she gets the feeling that this man was a mentor to Al Sahim at some point.

“Oliver requests your help with a rogue member of the _Bratva_ killing innocents in Star City,” the man says, and it sounds more like a demand than askance. Nyssa doesn't take orders very well, but still better than Sara ever did, she muses.

“What interest does the _Bratva_ , even a former member, have with Al Sahim?” Nyssa looks up and arches a brow after she has finished scanning the letter in her hand.

“Oliver spent a year with the _Bratva_ , towards the end of his absence from Star City.”

“Then his past has come to haunt him, and once again he cannot handle it, so he pulls on strings he doesn't even hold.” Nyssa can't muster the care for how cold her tone is. Any warm feelings toward Oliver Queen left with Sara.

“With all due respect, Ra's al Ghul, Oliver Queen has never done anything more than what he thought was best for his city and the people he loves. Granted, not always the right thing, but always the best thing. Right now he's asking for your help, above his own pride, in order to save innocent lives. The League will still stand in your absence.”

“You would do well not to advise me on matters beyond your grasp. His pride is half the reason he finds himself in these predicaments, and now he does not have Sara fighting beside him to persuade me to help.” Nyssa's lip curls when she speaks Sara's name and she can't help the lilt in her tone. Sara has always been her weak spot; luckily, even her weakest spot is impossibly strong.

The man almost looks satisfied, as if realizing something. “I had not thought Ra's al Ghul to be so bitter.”

Nyssa lifts her chin and glares down at the man. “Ra's al Ghul does not harbor resentment, only purpose.”

“Then direct the purpose of the Head to saving innocent lives. You don't have to live in the shadow of the legacy of your—of the former Ra's al Ghul.” The man almost sounds like he's requesting her help this time, instead of demanding it and Nyssa considers. “You can honor the legacy of the Black Canary—both of them.”

Indecision twists her mouth. “Who are you?”

“To you, just a messenger. To Oliver, a teacher, of sorts. To Sara, I suppose I was once a prisoner.”

“And why shouldn't I send you, someone my Beloved called a prisoner, back to one of your _gulags_?”

“Sara Lance was a different woman during her time on the _Amazo_. Whispers would say you saved and guided her into the woman she is today, for better or worse.”

“For better or worse,” Nyssa murmurs before the firelight from the torches reflects the steel in her eyes. “I will help Oliver Queen, to honor Sara and Laurel. But the Head of the Demon will not take orders from a League deserter.”

The man's dark eyes are thoughtful. “Do you really consider him a deserter? In another life he may have been Head of the Demon.”

“You speak insolence, messenger. You do not know that which you speak of. Al Sahim gained his name as Heir to the Demon, but he never held any true intentions behind it, despite the League mark on his body.”

“You'll find Oliver carries a lot of marks on his body with claims to things of which he is not, and some that he is.” The man smirks like he's got a secret and she's willing to wager it has to do with the _Bratva_ Captain's tattoo on Al Sahim's collar bone. This man looks like he might have once been a member of the _Bratva_ , a high-ranking member, and Nyssa says as much.

“I, like you, like Oliver and Sara, have a past, but it is just that, our past. Presently, a dangerous man with even darker intentions looms over the innocent lives of Star City, and you, and your resources, might just be the key to winning this war. That is why, I, Anatoly Knyazev, former leader of the _Bratva_ , ask your help on my and Oliver's behalf, please help us put to rest a demon that should long be dead.”

“Yes, Anatoly Knyazev, in the name of Sara Lance and Laurel Lance, I will come.” Nyssa allows herself to smile. She has not been filled with such purpose since she last saw Sara in the dungeons of _Nanda Parbat_. She will rise to the legacy of the Black Canary.


End file.
